1 IX 1.3 



CHELONIA. 



CHELONIA. 



1006 





of the turtlea which they caught into roofs for their houses and boats 

 for their little voyages, as Strabo and Pliuy testify. The latter, in 

 the tenth chapter of his ninth book, enters at large upon the subject. 

 As au article of food the Green Turtles (Tortues Franches of the 

 French), are BO highly prized, that they have become a considerable 

 article of commerce. The fat of many species, when fresh, is used 

 with success in lieu of butter and oil in cookery ; and in those species 

 which have a musky odour (C'helonia Caouana and C. Caretta for 

 instance), is used for embrocations, leather-dressing, and as lamp-oil. 



The Imbricated Turtles furnish that valuable article tortoise-shell, 

 or rather the best sorts of it, so highly prized in ancient and modern 

 times, and so ornamental and useful in the arts. The eggs of all the 

 species, particularly those of the Green Turtles, are excellent. 



In proportion to the benefits derived from the spoils of the turtles, 

 the ingenuity of man has been sharpened by his eagerness to acquire 

 them. One of the most obvious methods of capture was, and ia, to 

 watch the females as they emerge from the sea to deposit their eggs, 

 and thi'ii turn them upon their backs on the high and dry sand, 

 where they helplessly remain till the captors come to fetch them on 

 the moiTow. When the turtles lie floating on the sea, either for the 

 purposes of sleep or respiration, the turtle-fishers approach them 

 quietly with a sharp harpoon, carrying a ring at the butt-end, to 

 which a cord is attached. The harpooner strikes, and the wounded 

 animal dives, but is at last secured by the cord. In the South Seas 

 skilful divers watch them when so floating, and, getting under the 

 animals, suddenly rise, and so seize them. Mr. Darwin, with his 

 usvial felicity, describes another method of capture. In his account 

 of Keeling Island, he says : " I accompanied (April 6, 1836) Captain 

 Fitzroy to an island at the head of the lagoon : the channel was 

 exceedingly intricate, winding through fields of delicately branched 

 corals. We saw several turtles, and two boats were then employed 

 in catching them. The method ia rather curious : the water is so 

 clear and shallow, that although at first a turtle quickly dives out of 

 sight, yet in a canoe or boat under sail, the pursuers, after no very 

 long chase, come up to it. A man standing ready in the bows at this 

 moment dashes through the water upon the turtle's back ; then 

 clinging with both hands by the shell of the neck he is carried away 

 till the animal becomes exhausted, and is secured. It was quite an 

 interesting chase to see the two boats thus doubling about, and the 

 men dashing into the water, trying to seize their prey." (' Journal.') 

 But the most extraordinary mode of fishing is that said to be prac- 

 tised towards the coasts of China and the Mozambique, where turtles 

 are taken by the aid of living fishes trained for the purpose, and 

 thence named Fisher-Fishes. The fact appears to have been known to 

 Columbus, and has been verified by Commerson and cited by Middleton 

 and Salt. The fish is a species of Echenti* or Kcmnra, and the islanders 

 who use it are said to proceed in the following manner : They have 

 in their little boat tubs containing many of these fishes. The upper 

 part of the head of the fish is covered with an oval plate, soft and 

 fleshy at its circumference. In the middle of this plate is a very com 

 plicated apparatus of bony pieces, disposed across in two regular rows, 

 like the laths of Persian blinds. The number of these plates varies 

 from 15 to 36, according to the species ; they can be moved on their 

 axis by means of particular muscles ; and their free edges are furnished 

 with small hooks, which are all raised at once like the points of a 

 wool-card. The tail of each of the trained fishes in the tuba is 

 furnished with a ring for the attachment of a fine but long and 

 , strong cord. When the fishermen perceive the basking turtles on 

 the surface of the sea, knowing that the slightest noise would disturb 

 the intended victim, they slip overboard one of their Remoras tied to 

 the l9ng cord, and pay out line according to their distance from the 

 turtles. As soon as the fish perceives the floating reptile he makes 

 towards it, and fixes himself to it so firmly that the fishermen pull in 

 both fixh and turtle to their boat, where the fish is very easily 

 detached by pushing its head in a direction from behind forwards, 

 and the turtle is secured. 



Chelonia, Brongn. (Caretta, Merrem). Body covered with horny 

 scales or shells. One or two nails on each foot. 



Sub-Genoa 1. Chelonees Franches. Green Turtles. 



Discoidal plates to the number of thirteen, not imbricated. Muzzle 

 short, rounded. Upper jaw with a slight notch in front and small 

 dentilations on the sides ; horny case of the lower jaw formed of three 

 pieces and having its sides deeply dentilated. A nail on the first toe 

 of each foot. 



C. Mydat. Messrs. Dumenl and Bibron observe that this and the 

 three following species are so similar, that it is possible for them to 

 form one species only : but they add that this question can only be 

 satisfactorily solved by those who have opportunities of comparing 

 the living animals. 



C. virgata ; C. maculota ; C. marmorata. 



Sub-Genus 2. Imbricated Chelones. 



Plates of the disc imbricated and thirteen in number. Muzzle long 

 and compreaoed. Jaws with straight edges without dentilations, 



C. imbricata, the Hawk's-Bill Turtle of Catesby and Brown (Caretta, 

 imbricata, Gray; Testudo im&ricattt Liuuanis). Flesh bad. Eggs very 

 *ood. 



Hawk's-Bill Turtle (Chelane imbricata 



Sub-Genus 3. Chelone'es Caouanes. Logger-Head Turtles. 



Plates of the carapace not imbricated. Fifteen plates on the disc. 

 Jaws slightly curved towards each other at their extremity. 



(7. Caouana, the Logger-Head Turtle of Catesby (Caouana Caretta, 

 Gray) ; C. Duisianierii (C/tehtnia, olivacea of Eschscholtz ; Caouana 

 olivacea, Gray). 



Sphargit, Merrein (Coriudo, Flem. ; Dermatochelya, Blainv.). Body 

 enveloped in a coriaceous hide, tuberculous in young subjects, com- 

 pletely smooth in adults. Feet without nails. 



S. coriucea (Tatudo Lyra, Donud. and Bechst. ; Tortue Luth of the 

 French ; Coriaceous Tortoise of Pennant). 



curved slightly towards each other at their extremities, 

 on each fin. 



Two nails 



Plastron of Sphargia cot'iaccfi. 



This turtle has been taken on many of the European coasts ; 

 several of large size (700 Ibs. and 800 Ibs. in weight) have been captured 

 on those of Britain. One case, where the capture was effected off 

 the coast of Scarborough, should be a warning not to use it rashly as 

 food. Pennant relates that one of the three taken in 1748 or 1749 

 was parchased by a family, who invited several persons to partake of 

 it. A gentleman present told the guests that the flesh was unwhole- 

 some, but one of the company persisted in eating of it, and suffered 

 most severely, being seized with dreadful vomiting and purging ; and 

 yet fhe Carthusians, Pennant tells us, are said to eat no other species. 

 It would seem, then, that the severe effect above noticed must have 

 been accidental, and the animal may have been in an unhealthy con- 

 dition. It is said to grow very fat; but the flesh is reported to 

 be coarse and bad. The French name is given probably upon the 



